How To Give Good Feedback

How can those in education — and outside of it, for that matter — deliver feedback to their employees and colleagues in a constructive way, in a developmental and supportive way that can be true feedback for growth? This is the question explored by authors Eleanor (Ellie) Drago-Severson and Jessica Blum-DeStefano in their new Harvard Education Press title, Tell Me So I Can Hear You: A Developmental Approach to Feedback for Educators.

The "new normal" in organizations, including schools, says Drago-Severson, is working in teams and collaborations, but we still don't know where and how we learn to be good team members. "Giving feedback has become part of the air we breathe," she says, "and yet people find it really, really difficult."

The key to providing feedback that will not only be accepted, but that has the potential to be leveraged into strengthened relationships and improved performance, say the authors, is to understand that there are different “ways of knowing” and to direct feedback accordingly.

In this edition of the EdCast, Drago-Severson discusses these ways of knowing and reflects on the value of constructive feedback in the field of education and beyond.

About the Harvard EdCast

The Harvard EdCast is a weekly series of podcasts, available on the Harvard University iTunes U page, that features a 15-20 minute conversation with thought leaders in the field of education from across the country and around the world. Hosted by Matt Weber, the Harvard EdCast is a space for educational discourse and openness, focusing on the myriad issues and current events related to the field.